The document DE3444780 advocates the use of a dental implant constituted of three layers of material, namely: 1—Titanium as its core, 2—Intermediate surface coating consisting of bioactive ceramic and 3—Carbon fibers, fixed to the outer surface of the bioactive ceramic. The inventor states that the sensitivity given by the implant comes from the bone transmission of the loads received by the implant, and distributed to the periphery of the bone by filaments of the carbon fiber.
The invention which is intended to be presented is based on the concept of using any type of implant therefore it is not necessary to produce implants with specially designed surfaces to provide sensitivity to the mastication and dental occlusion forces.
The sensitivity is transmitted by an electrical pulse generated in a structure that is fixed to the head of the implant, (ahead referred as abutment) and lodging inside a bionic mechanism that converts a compressive force into an electrical pulse which can be perceived by the nervous endings of the trigeminal nerve.
The invention which it is intended to present also has a structural advantage that can be used in any type of implant independently of its brand, already osseointegrated or to be implanted, because: 1—There is no need to change the production line to make implants with particular surface features designed for sensitive teeth. 2—The Abutment with the bionic device that generates the electrical pulse for nerve stimulation can be installed at any time after the placement of an implant prior and after the osseointegration having been verified
The invention which is intended to be presented has the functional advantage of generating an electrical pulse of nerve proprioceptive stimulation whose magnitude is directly related to the intensity of the masticatory forces of occlusion.
There are today several procedures for teeth replacement based on dental implants technology, which can be divided into two major groups: 1—Removable prostheses over implants are used during the day and removed after the meals and before bedtime. The connectors that attach them to the implants have only the purpose of allowing a minimum of stability and security during phonation, breathing, and mastication. The forces triggered by the mastication work are not transmitted to the implants by the axis of insertion of of the same, but by tangential plans and therefore not perceived through bone conduction. 2—Fixed prostheses over the implants restrained by fixed and permanent devices, such as abutments and screws adapted to the head or base of the implants. These prosthetic devices ensure the solidity of the set prosthesis/implants, and thus the transmission of the mastication forces directly to the structure of the implants, which will dissipate them to the surrounding bone. The bone sensitivity is a vague, imprecise and non discriminating sensitivity, much like the deep visceral abdominal sensitivity. Patients on whom implant supported fixed prostheses were placed, are struggling with the problem of adequating the intensity of the mastication forces to the type of food, its texture and hardness, and sometimes is frequent the phenomenon of overload, which leads to the fatigue of the material used in the manufacture of prostheses, whether in metal and ceramic, acrylic, or totally made of minerals such as zirconium and ceramics. The appearance of micro cracks after some time of use (which will be as fast as the stiffness of the material in question lowers) will lead to the fracture of the materials used, and even in some cases, to structural fractures such as breakage of screws and abutments that lead to permanent damages of implanted supported prosthesis.
The document DE3444780 aims to give a morphological configuration of the tooth root implant in what concerns mobility, strength, and sensitivity to pressure, but has no specific mechanism that ensures the generation, transport and delivery of an electrical stimulus that excites the nerve endings responsible for tooth sensitivity.
The present invention has a bionic device housed in an implant abutment that makes it sensitive to mastication pressure forces (or other forces related thereto). The forces are converted into electrical pulses of suitable magnitude and intensity to be perceived by the nerve endings of the trigeminal nerve. The electrical pulse is carried by a copper conducting wire coated with a biocompatible sheath in a distal platform of which there is a wire mesh of titanium wrapped in polyglyconate sodium and which adapts to the mental nerve endings or infra-orbicular nerve, both are branches of the trigeminal nerve. Thus, it becomes possible to provide the brain feedback information about the magnitude and type of mastication forces that are being developed by the stomatognathic system at that time. This will provide the brain efferent information of regulation and modulation of muscle contraction forces of the stomatognathic system which will save the set implants/fixed prosthesis over implants from the structural stress forces overload, that cause fatigue of the material and the structural microfractures.
The advantages of the invention, over what is already known, are:
1. Dental sensitivity, which is an important function for the control of posture and body balance.
2. The mastication sensitivity had never before been valued by different implant manufacturers, but the sensitivity function of natural teeth contributes, according to current scientific research, to an improved balance and to the preservation of motion in patients over 70 years of age.
3. This invention can be adapted to any implant already on the market and can be placed even in patients who already have implants in the mouth.
4. While the invention DE3444780 is based on the principle of conducting the sensitivity through the bone surrounding the implant, the present invention performs the delivery of an electrical stimulation corresponding to the pressure exerted during mastication, directly on the nerve endings of the trigeminal nerve, allowing a proprioceptive and discriminative sensitivity much more precise than that which is perceived only by bone conduction, being in this case deep undefined visceral sensitivity.
The economic importance of the invention lies in three aspects:
a. Prevents the occurrence of the phenomenon of overload exerted by the forces of mastication on the prosthetic device or on the anatomical replacement devices anchored on the implants. Thus fatigue accidents or structural damage of the material of the whole implant prosthesis set can be avoided. This will decrease the patient's visits to the dental clinic for repairing the installed prostheses.
b. By contributing to a better understanding of texture and hardness of food, one will masticate more effectively with greater satisfaction and pleasure for the patient. The confidence of the patient will increase, and therefore the demand of the techniques of oral rehabilitation with dental implants.
c. By allowing the perception of the relative position of the mandible in relation to the head and body, provides an improved spatial orientation with gains in motion and balance.